I was recently on the range working with a student, and out of the corner of my eye I spotted the most smooth, powerful motion I had ever seen in person.

Upon further study, the individual was making the perfect swing. It looked so graceful, so effortless, so rhythmic and in-balance. We watched in awe.

Every drive popped off the club long and straight.

The person taking the swings was a 7-year-old boy. He had never had a golf lesson before. His swing looked precisely like legendary golfers Sam Snead and Mike Austin.

If you’ve never studied Snead or Austin, I suggest you look them up on the Internet—they’re much more effortless and graceful than Tiger Woods. Like the saying goes: “They just don’t make ’em like they used to.”

This is not the first time I’ve seen this. In fact, it is quite common among young golfers.

Children typically aren’t strong enough to pull the club through or mess up the arc of the club head. Imagine if you had a 10-pound club head—say a bowling ball—attached to a rope.

You couldn’t try to delay the release or pull it down. You would have to get your weight behind it to support the swinging back of the heavy weight. Then, you would have to shift your weight to the other foot to heave the arms around the circle so as not to injure yourself.

Think of how you roll a bowling ball. Your arm goes up slowly behind you with a wide arc, and then you let gravity bring the ball down and around. You don’t try to pull it—you let it pendulum up and down and let it go.

When you want to really knock the pins down with more speed, you simply take a few steps forward to gain momentum before you let the ball go—just like you should shift your weight in golf—toward your target.

Children don’t interfere with the swinging club head because when they are really little, the club almost feels like a bowling ball to them. They can only swing the club like a pendulum.

Since clubs have gotten lighter, some golfers have lost touch with the weight out at the end of the string. It makes us get quick and jerky, thinking we can power it through.

Remember our first lesson a few weeks back on effortless power? Start with the effortless part. Get your hands on the club so light and supple that the club head starts to feel heavy again. Make small swings, allowing the club head to move around an arc like a wrecking ball on a chain.

And watch for these children at your range. Mimic their rhythm and timing. Watch how their hips shift back and through—tilting their spine back and forth while their heads stay steady. Find your inner child and you will hit longer and straighter with less effort.

Steve Pratt is a golf instructor at Lindero Country Club. Visit his website at www.hititlonger.com.